Sunday Ticket - Share Your Strategy Time...

[MarkAF43]

I just made my call, the wife and I decided to pass on Sunday ticket since we have season tickets and can survive without it, got 20 bucks off my bill for 12 months for free, upgraded to the ultimate package received 4 months of show time free and the genie for free. I'm pretty happy with the call, no threats of cancellation just a nice conversation that went well.

[Ohiostyle]

Ugh... after being a ST subscriber for 6 years, I cut the cord completely this spring (good move except for ST). I was banking on a deal like the madden option last year, but it doesn't seem like that'll happen. Now I'm beginning to panic. Have to find a solution quick. As an out of town Bills fan, I don't have many options. I can pick up a few Erie, PA channels with an antenna, but not their CBS. This stinks.

[HurlyBurly51]

Slingbox + family in Rochester = My "Sunday Ticket." Hopefully they don't get blacked out too often.

 

Just out of curiosity, does the family ever complain about any hit on their network? Do they have like a spare TV they connect it to so you can control which channel you view? I tried this once with my brother but he started whining about it sucking up his bandwidth.

 

Ugh... after being a ST subscriber for 6 years, I cut the cord completely this spring (good move except for ST). I was banking on a deal like the madden option last year, but it doesn't seem like that'll happen. Now I'm beginning to panic. Have to find a solution quick. As an out of town Bills fan, I don't have many options. I can pick up a few Erie, PA channels with an antenna, but not their CBS. This stinks.

 

I did the same thing - am loving saving the $100 hit every month, and find I don't really miss it with free HD OTA. I did however pay for the digital Sunday Ticket since I somehow qualified, so I will be streaming this year and use Airplay to watch on the big screen. That's all I really needed DirecTV for, and now I can get the Sunday Ticket without having to pay their monthly ransom! I'm a little nervous about performance, but when I had ST Max in the past it seemed to work well, I just never really solely relied on it.

[Ohiostyle]

I'm hoping to score the dtv login where I work. They subscribe and have offered it months ago, but I feel weird asking again. If not, I just need a DTV subscriber, I'd give em cash up front for the PC login and I'll Chromecast it to the big screen. I'm sure I'll find one, but I've been procrastinating on securing it. Getting down to crunch time, no more lolli gagging for me! Pretty sure I'll be at the opener anyway. They are all die hard bears fans and we'll be in Chicago for a machine tool show that weekend! Only problem is they don't handle losing very well.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Ohiostyle

[Gavin in Va Beach]

Made the call today. Got a really nice lady in retention and we chit chatted about how expensive everything is getting these days, etc. Never threatened to outright cancel, just that I was considering it. Ended up getting the Ticket free, $15 off for a year, and Showtime free for 3 months that will automatically drop off without me having to do a thing. This makes the 4th year in a row getting the Ticket free. Thank you DirecTV!

[BUFFALOKIE]

I canceled my directv in march, so I have an early termination fee. I didn't return the equipment so they charged me for that, and I was already late on my payment so I owed a couple of months. Altogether, I owe them more than $800. I was in the exact Same situation last year, and I was still able to get ST reduced, a free genie, and all late fees and past due bill waived. Directv will do almost anything to make the customer happy, in my experience. Now, I'm not very confident they will be so generous to me this year. I will report back here after I make the call.

[Mike in Horseheads]

I canceled my directv in march, so I have an early termination fee. I didn't return the equipment so they charged me for that, and I was already late on my payment so I owed a couple of months. Altogether, I owe them more than $800. I was in the exact Same situation last year, and I was still able to get ST reduced, a free genie, and all late fees and past due bill waived. Directv will do almost anything to make the customer happy, in my experience. Now, I'm not very confident they will be so generous to me this year. I will report back here after I make the call.

Well I must say that's the most bizarre and potentially costly strategy I've ever heard.

[BUFFALOKIE]

Well I must say that's the most bizarre and potentially costly strategy I've ever heard.

 

Sometimes the best strategy is no strategy?

[MVJim]

I just got off the phone with Direct TV and was able to get the following with my Premier package with a one year subscription commitment (cancellation is $10/mo or $120 total):

1. NFL Sunday Ticket for free
   
2. $100 prepaid VISA gift card
   
3. One-time $25 credit
   
4. Sports Pack - $10 off for 6 mos
   
5. Base fee discount of $5/mo for 24 mos
   
6. HBO, Cinemax & Showtime - free for 3 mos
   

My strategy was similar to last year. I would first call and discuss switching service and cancelling. They would then give me some nominal credits and reduce the cost of NFL ticket from $240 to $192. I stated I needed to assess the cost and do a comparison. After a few days, I called back and stated I decided to cancel as the cost was still too much. That is when they made the offer above. My overall bill went down by $67 and in 3 months, I will either move my programming to the Ultimate package or renegotiate the Premium package.

 

I feel satisfied and now I am ready for the Bills 2014-2015 season (I am optimistic they will play a game next year).

[thurman34]

I use the same strategy every year but this year was much more difficult. I called last week to sign up for Sunday ticket max and got it for the regular price ($330). Today I called to cancel and she was only gonna give me $60 off. She called my bluff and went ahead and canceled it...I thought I had no chance. Then, after she asked if I had any other questions/concerns, I casually mentioned how I felt that it was unfair that people get different prices depending on who they talk to. She actually agreed with this and said that I should talk to their 'loyalty' department...boom, I was in.

 

When it was all said and done, I got the Max for $160 in addition to $10 off per month for 12 months off my regular bill! So pretty much I got it for $40

[Big Blitz]

Well....I could only manage to get 60 bucks off max plus they got rid of 2 ppv movies I ordered.

 

Guy told me that bc I got a significant discount last year, free the year before, and another discount year before that there was nothing he could do.

 

So since I split it with a buddy anyway I didn't push it. I decided I'm going to play the long game.

 

I plan on fighting for a significant discount next year AND hope to watch Connor McDavid on the Sabres for free. B)

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Well....I could only manage to get 60 bucks off max plus they got rid of 2 ppv movies I ordered.

 

Guy told me that bc I got a significant discount last year, free the year before, and another discount year before that there was nothing he could do.

 

So since I split it with a buddy anyway I didn't push it. I decided I'm going to play the long game.

 

I plan on fighting for a significant discount next year AND hope to watch Connor McDavid on the Sabres for free. B)

I can never get a deal on center ice. ST is exclusive to dtv it not center ice.

[Mike in Horseheads]

I can never get a deal on center ice. ST is exclusive to dtv it not center ice.

Ya... Last year I tried to get them to throw in the MLB package for the rest of the season and the nice lady I spoke to said she couldn't touch that. From the sounds of things since I'm still under contract I hope I can get more than the $48 in credits they offered when I cancelled auto renewal.

[major]

Just got it for free. Yiur suggestions worked

[Luka]

Just out of curiosity, does the family ever complain about any hit on their network? Do they have like a spare TV they connect it to so you can control which channel you view? I tried this once with my brother but he started whining about it sucking up his bandwidth.

 

Well I've had Sunday Ticket every year up until this point. The Slingbox is going to be connected directly to a digital antenna so the only load on the network will be the streaming part. He (my dad) has the fastest Roadrunner you can get and I have Fios here. Now that we are all moved out, it's just him and the stepmother so one computer and one tablet. I think I'll be able to get away with it. Hopefully.

[eball]

Well I've had Sunday Ticket every year up until this point. The Slingbox is going to be connected directly to a digital antenna so the only load on the network will be the streaming part. He (my dad) has the fastest Roadrunner you can get and I have Fios here. Now that we are all moved out, it's just him and the stepmother so one computer and one tablet. I think I'll be able to get away with it. Hopefully.

 

Just out of curiosity...do you live on the second floor?

[Luka]

Just out of curiosity...do you live on the second floor?

 

I think you've seen me before.

[Mr Info]

I called tonight following some of the suggestions here. The call took all of 10 minutes. Last year, I received an upgrade of my DVRs to Genies, $40 monthly credit (which paid for Max) for a 2 yr commitment. This year I got Max half-price, $10 monthly credit, and 4 months of Showtime. Two weeks ago I received the full price letter from Directv's VP of Marketing and I am much happier now.

[Damian]

Finally made the call last night. I got Sunday Ticket upgraded to Max (which allows online viewing), got the price knocked down $8/month. The resulting total was $190-something, they are sending me a $200 Visa card for a one year commitment to DTV (I've had them since 2000, so I'm not going anywhere).

Basically, they are paying me like $8.00 to have Sunday Ticket.

[jsswansonjr]

These various suggestions worked for me. I called DTV and had a very nice conversation with a representative from customer retention. In summary, I'm getting the Sunday Ticket free plus a one time $40.00 credit for a 1 year commitment of my existing service. Thanks again.

[Rico]

My strategy will be the same, either watch it at a bar or just find an on-line stream. I'd rather not deal with any Customer Service reps if I don't have to.

[jsswansonjr]

My strategy will be the same, either watch it at a bar or just find an on-line stream. I'd rather not deal with any Customer Service reps if I don't have to.

Many times dealing with customer service is not very pleasant, but the DTV reps I spoke with were very nice to deal with.

[sfbillsfan]

I made my call today & after a couple of nice conversations, basically got 2 months credit. I haven't called retention yet, nor played my "ace in the hole". My wife kept her name & could be signed up as a new customer!! I'll give retention a call in a day or 2.

[SRQ_BillsFan]

I called and was offered 1/2 off the HD pack which costs $5.00 and nothing else. I ended up losing the football package and cancelled 4 movie channels. They could have cared less.

 

Recently divorced and have had service for > 1 year. But prior to that had service since the ticket 1st came out. However then it was in my ex wife's name, not mine. No reason except she was home that day.

 

Guess I need to try and call back.

[plenzmd1]

 

 

 

use Airplay to watch on the big screen.

 

You sure this works?? airplay not enabled on the PreSeason live app.

I called tonight following some of the suggestions here. The call took all of 10 minutes. Last year, I received an upgrade of my DVRs to Genies, $40 monthly credit (which paid for Max) for a 2 yr commitment. This year I got Max half-price, $10 monthly credit, and 4 months of Showtime. Two weeks ago I received the full price letter from Directv's VP of Marketing and I am much happier now.

 

haha, must be the Richmond special...almost exact same deal and about same time on the phone..instead of the showtime i get an additional $5 . Dread this call every year, pretty easy this time.

Edited August 6, 2014 by plenzmd1

[zevo]

So I crushed it! At least I think so...the convo started off fantastic...I was pleasant and so was the rep...my contract just ran out so I said I was price shopping....with absolutely no negotiating I got the ticket again for the 2nd year in a row at no charge. I told her the ticket was the reason I chose dtv and she offered it to me. I also said I need my bill around 80$ a month. She got it down to 85$ with free show time for 4 months and hbo 1/2 off for 3 months....I think the total was 40$ off a month for the next year. The ticket required a 1 year commitment. But as I was pushing a little more a 100$ visa gift card popped up for me. I don't know if it magically popped up in the offers like she said or she gave it to me cuz I was über pleasant with her but regardless I got a slick deal. It was such a good experience that I asked to talk to her supervisor to pay it forward. I'm happy

[qwksilver]

I tried last saturday, I went straight to retention (this is a must as they have the power to give out the best deals). My contract is up 1st week in September, because of this he said there was nothing he could do because I still have credits running from last year into october.

 

He did say call back when I get closer to the contract expiration date and things should change. I am coming up on my 14th year with Directv.

If they don't I will be a cable subscriber the next day. My wife HATES the outtages during the rain storms in South Florida.

 

Should be interesting.

[zevo]

I tried last saturday, I went straight to retention (this is a must as they have the power to give out the best deals). My contract is up 1st week in September, because of this he said there was nothing he could do because I still have credits running from last year into october.

 

He did say call back when I get closer to the contract expiration date and things should change. I am coming up on my 14th year with Directv.

If they don't I will be a cable subscriber the next day. My wife HATES the outtages during the rain storms in South Florida.

 

Should be interesting.

 

Do as others do...be cordial...it pays off

[MOFO]

Called customer retention...got half off...that was the best he could do...told him I had to think about it...called back ten min later, got someone who you could tell really enjoyed her job and she gave it up for free just for asking...someone else here said it best- if you don't get what you want, try again later with another rep...2nd year in a row for free...love me my DTV.

[qwksilver]

Always cordial. I never threaten to leave. Just told him my contract will be up in a month and I would like the same deal as I received last year. I am shocked it's going to take a 2nd call. I am just typing that I will not make a 3rd one. 14 years as a loyal customer should mean something to them.

[Ramius]

Always cordial. I never threaten to leave. Just told him my contract will be up in a month and I would like the same deal as I received last year. I am shocked it's going to take a 2nd call. I am just typing that I will not make a 3rd one. 14 years as a loyal customer should mean something to them.

 

I'm in the same situation you are. I got the ticket free last year, plus $35 off per month for 15 months. My contract runs out this month, but the credits are still good for 2-3 more. Given this situation, customer retention said the best they could offer was $15 off the ticket price per month, putting total cost at $150. So i simply asked if they could upgrade me to ST max for that price and he said sure, no problem. So i ended up with the ST max for $150.

 

I've gotten the ticket free whenever i'm not under contract. So next year i'll get it free. And in a few months when my credits run out, ill call back and get them back.

[coastalpika]

Called today and changed my typicall "cancellation" strategy based on this thread. I was up front and told them that I know that they are offering the discounts to current subscribers.

 

First offer:

Sunday ticket Max for $20 less than the standard ticket. I said no thanks and that I would get back to them since the wife and I were discussing cable options for this year. He then gave me a 2nd offer.

 

Second offer:

First offer plus $10 off my bill for 12 months.

 

The deal sealer:

I asked if they would throw in free HBO if I sang "Holiday Road" in a high pitched voice and he accepted while laughing his ass off the entire time.

 

Summary:

Sunday ticket max for $220, $10 bill credit for 12 months, free HBO for 3 months (and a lost voice for the rest of the day).

 

 

I still think the cancellation strategy may have worked a little better (considering TWC's current offers) but I am still happy with the results and at least I had fun with it.

[TXBILLSFAN]

Called today, I was polite and said I wanted to cancel and was directed to retention. I asked is they could give me better price on service. Ended with $15 off per month for 12 mos. and $100 off Sunday ticket with a free upgrade to RZ+mobile version. I've been a customer of DTV for 12 years, so, I think that had a lot to do with it. I try and get this type of deal each year and usually come pretty close.

[eball]

I think, to sum up -- if you're not getting roughly $300 or more in credits/discounts by calling...you're doing it wrong.

 

Nice job, everyone!

[thewildrabbit]

After reading thru some of the posts after my initial post in this thread, and reading about some of the great deals to be had by some of you. I decided to call DTV back, and told them I'd rather wait until my contract is up at the end of August to redo my Sunday ticket.

 

Called Thursday, and told them I'm canceling my service and going to Time Warner cable. So, upon hearing that they passed me to retention. After some discussion, this year Sunday ticket max free, new genie box & installed free, 20.00 off the bill for 24 months, and Showtime for the next four months free. Couldn't be happier!

 

 

Thanks guys for helping me rethink my situation. Now mind you, they probably plan on raping me next August when the 2015 Sunday ticket is due. This year I'll enjoy the freebies and worry about next year, next year.

Edited August 15, 2014 by FeartheLosing

[Reddy Freddy]

For what it's worth, I've gotten Sunday Ticket for free basically every year since becoming a customer in 2009 (using the type of tactics mentioned in this thread). But this year I made my annual call and was told that my account was audited and found to have received too many discounts in recent years, so there is a hold on any further promotions for a set period of time (they could not say how long). So now I'm trying to decide whether to suck it up and pay full price, or just switch to another cable provider.

 

Just wanted to let people know that there is an end to riding the gravy train, so try not to get on the naughty list like me!

[Clippers of Nfl]

For what it's worth, I've gotten Sunday Ticket for free basically every year since becoming a customer in 2009 (using the type of tactics mentioned in this thread). But this year I made my annual call and was told that my account was audited and found to have received too many discounts in recent years, so there is a hold on any further promotions for a set period of time (they could not say how long). So now I'm trying to decide whether to suck it up and pay full price, or just switch to another cable provider.

 

Just wanted to let people know that there is an end to riding the gravy train, so try not to get on the naughty list like me!

That's why you have to give in a little.

I have had dt since 2006 or 2007. I, like you, have had it free most years. Except one year I paid 100 flat and this year I paid 135 with the max included. Next year will be my free year though.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Clippers of Nfl

[Johnny Hammersticks]

So.....I have been debating as to whether I should make the call this year or not. I called in July of 2013 and got the ST Max for free and a bunch of promotional discounts and free movie channels. I was pretty convinced that they would do nothing for me.

 

Well, I just called and didn't even need to ask for customer retention. The representative I spoke with was very nice, and I was also very nice to him. I never threatened cancellation, but told him that I was going through some "hard times" and was wondering (as a loyal customer) if there was anything he could do to help me out. He put me on hold for about 3 minutes, and when he came back he offered me ST MAX for $100 total (something like $16.99 for 6 months) and he also gave me a $15 discount for 15 months. I didn't even have to extend my contract. I think it's a pretty good deal without having to push too hard.

 

What do you folks think? Should I call back in a couple days, ask for retention, and try to get a better deal? Or should I just be thankful for what I received? Thoughts?

[MarkAF43]

So.....I have been debating as to whether I should make the call this year or not. I called in July of 2013 and got the ST Max for free and a bunch of promotional discounts and free movie channels. I was pretty convinced that they would do nothing for me.

 

Well, I just called and didn't even need to ask for customer retention. The representative I spoke with was very nice, and I was also very nice to him. I never threatened cancellation, but told him that I was going through some "hard times" and was wondering (as a loyal customer) if there was anything he could do to help me out. He put me on hold for about 3 minutes, and when he came back he offered me ST MAX for $100 total (something like $16.99 for 6 months) and he also gave me a $15 discount for 15 months. I didn't even have to extend my contract. I think it's a pretty good deal without having to push too hard.

 

What do you folks think? Should I call back in a couple days, ask for retention, and try to get a better deal? Or should I just be thankful for what I received? Thoughts?

 

My opinion? ATake it and run and push for next year maybe. I'm not a fan of pushing my luck and I always fear it will come back to haunt me somehow.

[Captain Hindsight]

We are thinking of cancelling cable entirely. We have time warner currently and can usually get the Bills game of either CBS or Fox and we never watch anything else.

 

I was pretty pissed with them this morning as both internet and TV were out. So I called and spoke with someone. He told me that the neighborhood around me was showing an outage but since no one had called on Friday morning (shocker), they cant send a unit out unless more people call. So instead of hanging at home tonight I'll be at my office at school doing work and watching preseason football illegally